Um, Excuse Me, You Are Sitting in My Seat...

I thought you all would appreciate this...I flew LHR-DTW today. I boarded, the person next to me boarded, we chatted with the flight attendant...blah, blah, blah. A lady comes on board holding her BP and tells my seat mate that they have the same seat assignment (30F). The FA asks to see the BP in order to work out the details.

The woman had a BP for LHR to MIAMI! I was a bit surprised given the fact they did a passport and boarding twice - once at the gate to scan the BP and again at the top of the jet way.

The MIA flight was the gate next to ours, but SEVERAL people missed it!

I've heard of this happening, but it is the first time I've actually seen it happen. Very crazy!

I don't know what's worse... that people just get on a line and don't bother to verify they're getting on the right flight, or that the gate agent missed it.

Don't they scan boarding passes out there? Shouldn't the machine had barked that the information was somehow not matching that flight?

Click to expand...

The Brits (contractors handle flights) are typically pretty meticulous about this stuff, that's why I'm surprised it happened. The family in front of me to scan BPs were dual passport holders - they used US at check in and tried to use UK to board...they wanted to see the security stickers and the family had to dig out and present the right passport.

The Brits (contractors handle flights) are typically pretty meticulous about this stuff, that's why I'm surprised it happened. The family in front of me to scan BPs were dual passport holders - they used US at check in and tried to use UK to board...they wanted to see the security stickers and the family had to dig out and present the right passport.

Click to expand...

It's ridiculous... maybe she snuck in. But considering the options, I'd rather sneak into the Miami flight.

Either way, I've seen people sit in the wrong seat on the same plane... wrong seat on the same row or whatever, and maybe even a seat change at the podium that wasn't done properly and two people ended up with the same seat. But never someone actually making it aboard the wrong plane.

I've seen people on the wrong plane, but I don't remember the circumstances clearly.

IME many cases of sitting in the wrong seat are deliberate. The most outrageous one I saw was having to boot someone from my 3A who didn't really want to move. When the FA forced him to produce his boarding pass it was for 29E. I was amazed that he tried that with a straight face. The walk of shame was priceless, especially after I loudly commented about how difficult it would be to confuse 3A with 29E.

I don't know what's worse... that people just get on a line and don't bother to verify they're getting on the right flight, or that the gate agent missed it.

Don't they scan boarding passes out there? Shouldn't the machine had barked that the information was somehow not matching that flight?

Click to expand...

The machines can be a bit brain-dead, and in T4, it's shared equipment. Thus, it's probably just looking for a valid BP for a flight that's boarding then. Depending on which gate at T4 this was, I can see a mix-up happening fairly easily. Some of the numbered gate signs are strangely positioned relative to where the entrance to the BP scanners for the gate are. If two DL flights are boarding at the same time (a frequent occurrence, conditioning on at least one DL flight boarding, at LHR) next to each other, it could get really confusing in some parts of T4 because the queues all kind of lump together. (Last week I had to explain to some people that while I was at the end of a boarding queue, it was the SkyPriority queue and they needed to join one of the other much longer queues.)

All that said, if they checked BPs at the top of the jetway, too, this should have been caught. Otherwise, what are the agents looking for, just to see "DELTA" somewhere? And really, how could the family with two passports think it's OK to show the UK ones at boarding if the US ones got the security sticker? Why even try the UK ones? It's not like the UK is doing exit checks or stamping passports at the jetway.

Long time ago, but when I was about 8, we lived in LA and my aunt in San Diego. Folks gladly sent me away for a few days unaccompanied on this short flight. Fast forward a few days, and my folks are sitting at LAX to meet the return flight (when one could do such things), and, after the last person deplaned, walked up to find out where I was. No daughter! Call to my aunt in San Diego confirmed she had escorted me to the plane -- how could I have gotten lost midair? About this time, I deplane in Phoenix, and can't figure out where my parents are. Of course, there are no cellphones, etc., so it's GA calling GA, but they eventually figure it out and send me PHX-LAX. Guess neither my aunt nor the GA in SAN noticed that I was boarding the wrong flight. Quite a lot of excitement at the PSA gates that day!

I've nearly done it in CVG in the RJ octopus. Then again, I was told to take the first door and it was the third door.

Click to expand...

RJ and bus situations are where they need an FA checking BPs at boarding. Unfortunately, this spills over into some European carriers checking BPs at the boarding door even when using a jetway. (I'm looking at you, AZ.)

I recall it happening on a flight from ATL to IAD. After the door closed and we pushed off from the gate the woman next to me said - in broken English - "am I on right plane". Her boarding pass was DFW..... I guess Delta got her from IAD to DFW, but it didn't happen that evening.

There was a famous incident a while ago where someone wanted to go to Oakland, California and instead boarded and flew to Auckland, New Zealand. It might have been a UA flight. They apparently misheard all of the boarding announcements regarding the destination.

There was a famous incident a while ago where someone wanted to go to Oakland, California and instead boarded and flew to Auckland, New Zealand. It might have been a UA flight. They apparently misheard all of the boarding announcements regarding the destination.

There was a famous incident a while ago where someone wanted to go to Oakland, California and instead boarded and flew to Auckland, New Zealand. It might have been a UA flight. They apparently misheard all of the boarding announcements regarding the destination.

Very true... a FF would have to have a bad day to board that flight...

Click to expand...

For an early morning flight or a connection after a very exhausting journey, I could imagine doing it. I sometimes verify the destination with FAs when I board and I don't find it funny when pilots jokingly either state the wrong airport or say they don't know.

A few months ago, I was first to board a JFK - SLC flight. Boarding pass scanned fine, was at the right gate, etc. But when I got to the end of the jetway, I stepped onto a full 757 that was clearly about ready to depart. The FA told me they were going to Atlanta.​

By this time, there was a line of people waiting behind me in the jetway to board the SLC flight. I ran back up to the GA, who was enormously irritated to hear what had happened. The jetway in use led to two aircraft and someone had setup the cordons improperly. It's the closest I've ever come to actually boarding the incorrect flight.​

A few months ago, I was first to board a JFK - SLC flight. Boarding pass scanned fine, was at the right gate, etc. But when I got to the end of the jetway, I stepped onto a full 757 that was clearly about ready to depart. The FA told me they were going to Atlanta.​

By this time, there was a line of people waiting behind me in the jetway to board the SLC flight. I ran back up to the GA, who was enormously irritated to hear what had happened. The jetway in use led to two aircraft and someone had setup the cordons improperly. It's the closest I've ever come to actually boarding the incorrect flight.​

“Our intention was never to launch a website, our intention was to build a global brand for frequent flyers.”

content + community + technology + social

InsideFlyer was created by travelers, for travelers. Here you can discover and share your experiences related to travel and frequent flyer programs with business travelers, leisure travelers, infrequent flyers and road warriors alike.

InsideFlyer is a privately funded venture based in Colorado Springs, CO (affectionally—the House of Miles). We’re a small diverse group of experienced frequent flyer experts, travel community builders, technologists, and friends of the flyer who want to help you learn to be an expert traveler. We believe that learning about frequent flyer miles should be as fun as travel itself.